Hard to find fault with this article. Pretty much spot on.
Is Ontario destined to become a relic of the auto industry?
Is Ontario destined to become a relic of the auto industry?
Saha says the reason companies like Ford and Toyota initially set up manufacturing in Ontario was because of demand for the vehicles in Ontario and across Canada. That local footprint, along with a cheap Canadian dollar, the Auto Pact and later NAFTA, created a strong business case. On the other hand, with local demand for EVs currently so small and the unlikelihood of being able to export Ontario-made EVs to the United States, the business case doesn't exist.
Instead, GM is making the Chevy Volt in Michigan, along with its batteries and battery packs. Ford's Focus Electric is being made there, too. The Nissan Leaf is made in Japan and now supplies U.S. demand from a plant in Tennessee. Tesla builds its cars in California. The Smart Fortwo Electric is made in France, the BMW i3 is made in Germany, and the Kia Soul Electric comes from South Korea. Canada, without its own original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), is at a significant disadvantage. Even a homegrown autoparts giant like Magna International does the bulk of its electric vehicle R&D in the U.S. and elsewhere.
some Ontario-based companies initially focused on the electric vehicle market have been forced to adapt. CrossChasm Technologies, an EV analytics and simulation company spun out of the University of Waterloo, has shifted its efforts to "connected cars" – that is, designing the software and services that allow vehicles to better communicate with charging stations, other cars, and their drivers. As the Internet of Things emerges, the idea is to increasingly make cars one of those things.
"My thought is that we have missed the manufacturing boat but that there is a better boat that's about to leave port and we should try to be on it," explains Matthew Stevens, chief executive of CrossChasm. "EVs, and cars in general, are in desperate need for better connectivity. So instead of being 'Built-in-Ontario', I think about EVs and other cars as being 'Connected-By-Ontario'."
